Any significant home renovation project requires the owner to follow the building codes from the local building authority in every city. The building codes set certain requirements that must be satisfied by the building to achieve optimal safety of its inhabitants. To add a steam shower to your home, you must follow some special considerations and adhere to certain building codes. The following article will offer more details about the same.

What kind of requirements will the building code stress upon?

Ideally, the building code in a city will address three important issues of installing a steam shower in your bathroom and they are:

• Type of wallboard used for construction of the room where the steam shower will be installed.
• Installation of glass panels in the bathroom – location and quality of glass
• Sufficient mechanical ventilation in the steam shower bathrooms (based on the size of the bathroom).

The building code varies from one place to another. In addition to the three above mentioned factors, the code regulates factors related to electrical wiring, structural design and important requirements for handling the increased moisture content from the steam shower.

Steam shower building codes in Florida

Major cities in Florida are expected to follow the below code requirements while installing a steam shower.

For operating a steam room or steam showers, the doors must be in adherence to the code FBC 423.13.1 which explains the swinging direction of doors and opening method.

For safety purposes, refer code FBC 423.13.7 that discusses location of steam shower, use of glass panels and so on.

Code 423.17.6 explains the importance of panic switch that must be installed within the supervised area of the steam shower room. The switch must be labeled for easy access.

Code 423.5.3 explains the BTU per hour limits to be used in steam showers.